Getting Started, Documentation, Tips & Tricks

Howdy guys - new to SGI (Well, 20+ years ago we got a couple at work and I was in awe of the Indy as the only exposure I previously had was the "Any port in a storm" ads in mags) and have just acquired an Indigo² for my vintage collection, for the grand price of $NZ32.

The chap that sold it mentioned that he ran it headless as he couldn't get the graphics card to run. It has the 3 stacked MaxImpact set, and I am fumbling around trying to cobble together a 13W3 to VGA connector - as yet, I have found no output. The previous owner seemed clued up, and I am surprised he couldn't get it running, so I wonder if there was a gotcha.

I can only connect via Telnet once up, and can login as root, so all looks well. I haven't gotten a serial link up yet. An hinv lists everything except a graphics entry:



My question is - is it possible in the PROM console to disable the GIO sockets and turn off the console output so that it won't report the GFX subsystem? And if so, can you use the nvram tool to turn them back on? Or is there a hardware jumper to reset the PROM?

Cheers

StN wrote: My question is - is it possible in the PROM console to disable the GIO sockets and turn off the console output so that it won't report the GFX subsystem? And if so, can you use the nvram tool to turn them back on? Or is there a hardware jumper to reset the PROM?

The answer to all your questions is `no'. You can instruct the PROM to use a serial console even though graphics are present, but they will show in the hinv anyway.

If you don't see your impact assembly in the hinv, chances are that they are damaged or partly disconnected. Try to remove the board assembly and reseat them, making sure the inter-board connexions are well set. Also, make sure the small ribbon cable going from the power supply to the EISA/GIO backplane is firmly connected.

Oh, and welcome to Nekochan!

Ahh - thanks for that. Yes, the second power supply cable is housed in the unused position back on the PSU - That was my first thought when I took the cover off, but when I checked the Impact docs they indicated that it shouldn't be used on the 10K - I'll stick it across and see if it springs into life.

The flat flex power cable is required for all Impact boards. The white square connectors on the midplane are used to supply power to the Impact boards, which draw higher currents than the older boards, and they are only connected to the flat flex power cable.
The cable can be parked on the side of the PSU when you don't have any Impact boards.

Thanks guys - the power cable resulted in the screen showing some activity when powering up (ie a slight offset border shadow) which indicated that at least it was getting something from the cards.

I then set 'nvram console g' and rebooted to get the Starting up splash screen but no apparent mouse or keyboard response. Restarting again and hitting Esc continuously brought up the Diagnostic / PROM access screen and I can play from there. Mouse and keyboard do work from that point, and an hinv at the command prompt does detect the Maximum Impact graphics (still not showing on subsequent boots via telnet). I'll proceed with the diagnostics in case something is not right, but I'm wondering if the software upgrade the previous chap did to IRIX may have skipped some gfx stuff - is there a headless option that might economise like that? Does the IRIX hinv command report based on the hardware or the drivers existing?

I naively tried a startX from the telnet session hoping it might fire up a desktop on the display, but it failed - the error that I can't recall pointed me to a folder that seemed a little shy on content.

Next step might be to reload IRIX ensuring all options are selected.

Thanks again.

This sounds like a similar problem I had with an Octane 2 that was console only and set up as a server.
http://forums.nekochan.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16729495
My solution required copying some x files from another machine. But, it was never that good, so I re-installed.

Hope it helps.

It sounds like the Impact drivers aren't installed.

Turns out that the second HDD has a pile of distribution files on it - the 6.5.22 overlay (3 discs?) and the patch prior to that to update inst. Also some others documentation stuff. I'll add a CDROM and burn these to it before running FSCK - it's coming up with a few read errors.

There seems to be a decent chunk of X11 missing and when I tried the -m switches in inst it wanted a lot of additional files, so I'll play with that for a bit.

I do get the Startup Indigo screen/window (and mouse and kdb work when I hit Esc and go into the diags) and when I issue a Shutdown from the console, I get the screen/window asking for a power down. So I know the card physically works now. Does sound like drivers - the mouse stops working within seconds of showing the startup screen.

I also think the CMOS battery may be failing...